HydroPak water-activated fuel-cell generator unveiled

While still quite a ways away from our ideal method of drawing power directly from tap water, the new HydroPak generator from Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell at least trumps those heavy, dirty, traditional models in both cleanliness and efficiency. As we first heard a few months back, this water-activated, fuel cell-based "portable power product" uses $20 disposable cartridges to provide "enough energy to recharge an average notebook computer 8 to 10 times" or "operate low power devices such as portable lights, notebook computers, portable televisions and ad hoc communications networks for more than 14 continuous hours," via AC outlet or dual USB jacks. Also on display at CES alongside the $400 unit will be a smaller version called the HydroPak Mini, a prototype device designed to juice up gadgets such as cellphones or gaming systems.

[Via Gadget Lab]

[Flashpoint @ Jan 4th 2008 9:36AM]

Thia is fantastic.
Now I can hide out deep in the secluded caves of Pakistan and continue my operations while US bombing campaigns tear the world apart around me. I can even watch Youtube !

[daniel @ Jan 4th 2008 9:53AM]

You must be kidding me... $20 disposable cartridges?! I'll tell you what, you send me $20, and I'll send YOU a bunch of disposable energy cartridges... they're Duracells, Energizers, and are virtually universal in size, voltage, etc... You don't even need a $400 fuel cell!

[John @ Jan 4th 2008 10:13AM]

A huge difference matey.

When you throw away a battery it contributes to land fill and harms the environment by leaving heavy trace metals in the soil.


Why is no one doing anything serious with solar power? Sheesh the sun is the way to go it's the largest power source that we actually know how to harness why are we not doing more with it?

[Mike @ Jan 4th 2008 11:16PM]

Do you seriously believe that $20 of duracells could fully charge a notebook 10 times?

And damn that pesky technological innovation and the premium that comes with, I want my zinc plates and salt water back!

[daniel @ Jan 4th 2008 10:15AM]

My point is that by using disposable cartridges, you aren't eliminating any waste from the production cycle. It's not something "just running on water". Instead of a fuel cell, you could instead purchase a solar panel + battery pack that would do the exact same thing for a much cheaper price without the continual waste of disposable cartridges.

[Joe @ Jan 4th 2008 10:19AM]

Errr... $20 for enough batteries to recharge my laptop 10 times? Deal.

[Rob @ Jan 4th 2008 10:41AM]

John, I have a roof full of solar panels, so I am a proponent of solar energy. However, when we have a foggy day my energy production is down to almost zero. If I were off the grid and depending on solar power, some days I wouldn't collect enough energy to keep the fridge going. Solar is great, but it does not make sense in this application, where you are looking for a dependable energy source.

[LiqwidZero @ Jan 4th 2008 10:50AM]

@ John

Metal comes from the environment. Is it such a bad thing to give it back?

[john @ Jan 4th 2008 10:54AM]

@ Rob, My point is we are currently only using around 2% of the energy presented to a solar panel, This should be around 30% or better. Not just general house holds even though that's one of the best ways to enable good use of space but solar plants out in deserts where cloud and fog are rare. I'm not sure where would be a good place. If you make solar panels more effecient you only need better batteries with a large battery bank and some good use of power you should easilly stretch a week or more without charging those batteries.

[macona @ Jan 4th 2008 11:27AM]

The energy density of solar just sucks. Land based solar will never be productive. Even at higher efficiencies.

Then there is the huge amount of energy and chemicals to make the things.

[dj-kenpo @ Jan 4th 2008 2:28PM]

or... I could recharge my laptop at home, using the outlet.

like hell any of you are going to tote around some 50 pound recharge unit.

"but it has a handle!"

man, can't wait to go tot he beach with it! or maybe starbucks!

sorry, it has it's place, remote areas without power. at the same time, a car battery and inverter will work just as well (better actually, you'll get more than 10 charges) and it's cheaper.

[MikeG @ Jan 4th 2008 10:31AM]

Is that a plug socket at the bottom? That thing is f'ing huge!

[SFO Kevin @ Jan 4th 2008 12:48PM]

There needs to be room inside for the gerbils to run on the wheel...

[asdf asdfds sd @ Jan 4th 2008 10:56AM]

wow, this is a joke.

$20 for a disposable cartridge that has 350wh of juice?

How much energy does it take to make one of these cartridges?

$20 in gasoline will give you about 35,000 wh of power from a tiny quiet honda generator.

100 times more efficient. Emitting only co2, not some solid waste + co2 to make the cartridge.

[Carl Lumma @ Jan 4th 2008 12:40PM]

> How much energy does it take to make one
> of these cartridges

Good question. There's probably about $0.05 of methanol in one. They're doing the printer ink thing (the fuel cell would otherwise be more than $400).

So the form factor / power density makes it terrible for portable use, and the disposable cartridges ruin any environmental claims.

Also re. the above, modern alkaline and lithium batteries don't contain any mercury or other bad heavy metals in significant quantities.

-Carl

[Carl Lumma @ Jan 4th 2008 3:05PM]

My bad. It isn't methanol-powered (DMFC). It's a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_borohydride_fuel_cell

so the cartridges are legit.

-C.

[Carl Lumma @ Jan 4th 2008 5:41PM]

Drat, this isn't my day. Their product is H.O.D. with NaBH4, not direct NaBH4. Pass the bourbon. -C.

[Bob S. @ Jan 4th 2008 11:14AM]

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/tools/edb/lbfinal.gif

Areas of the country experiencing drought. Note how few areas are white (unaffected). Gonna get worse.

This is a stupid idea. Yuppies will love it (and if the manufacturers' concerns are cell phones and handheld games, that's their target market), but it doesn't improve the world one bit.

[Andrew Pollack @ Jan 4th 2008 11:20AM]

These might be excellent for a home emergency shelter kit if you're in an area with storm or quake risk -- presuming the $20 disposable unit stores well with a long shelf life and high safety factor. Storing a portable generator is problematic. You have to be very careful about how you put them away. You need to drain the fuel, you need change the oil, and most important you need to store highly volatile gasoline. Even with the right additives, gasoline doesn't have a truly long shelf life. Emergency kits should contain things you can ignore for many months or years at a time. Storing one of these and maybe a few disposables in a sealed case (like a pelican equipment case) in the hold on a boat wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Still, most of the comments here have a lot of merit -- the cost/size/convenience to power output here just isn't good enough yet for general use.

[johnzilla @ Jan 4th 2008 12:30PM]

Actually, storing a portable generator is pretty easy. You just park your car. For true, temporary emergencies, most people can do just fine with a full tank of gas in a small car and a DC-to-AC inverter. At normal idle, a car is very quiet compared to your standard lawnmower-engine style portable generators and in a pinch can provide things like emergency shelter and heat as well as information using the radio. Heck, there are even people who cook on their car engines (seriously) so you've got your stove issue almost solved there, too.

Yes, there are those pesky emissions, but again, we're talking about temporary emergencies, not on-going use.

I'm all for progress, but I think in a lot of cases people would be better served learning and practicing how to do more with less than figuring out how to protect and maintain their current consumption habits at any/all costs.

[Andrew Pollack @ Jan 4th 2008 1:05PM]

John, as a firefighter I can tell you that it is common as dirt that people try to run their generators (or their motorcycles, and sometimes even cars) in the garage even when there is no storm. They very quickly fill their homes up with CO. Not good at all.

* Though this device does put out some emissions as well.

[Stan Winstone @ Jan 4th 2008 11:40AM]

Eh- how is this better than a standard LiOn rechargeable battery?

[Jason @ Jan 4th 2008 3:25PM]

Don't take this as attacking anyone who posted on here but there are a lot of uninformed opinions being expressed. There are a lot of factors that make this unit stand out, weight being a big one, fuel storage, energy density, transportation issues and price. You can use a lot of metrics to measure this unit and they are all are really favorable as to what's availible now. Also keep it in the context as to what market this unit has been designed for.

[DarkLightConnection @ Jan 4th 2008 5:54PM]

Did you mean "portable gaming system"?... I can't imagine a "Mini" generator powering a XBOX 360 or PS3...

(Unless it is a "Mini" Nuclear Power Station, of course)

[Arun @ Jan 5th 2008 1:44AM]

For some reason, this reminded me of a Windows Vista box.

[Bill @ Jan 5th 2008 12:21PM]

Cheaper than the current direct methanol fuel cells on the market.

But I'm not going to buy one since I keep a couple of these on continuous charge at home (cheaper, and more options to recharge):

http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/63/p/1/pt/10/product.asp

[krassy @ Jan 6th 2008 2:52PM]

ok.

- Xantrex Technology provides around 18 hours at 25 watts.
- this Fuel Cell provides 14 hours at 25 watts.

- The Xantrex System weights 60 lb (27.3 kg)
- this fuel cell weights 4lb (1.8kg)

when you are out of power to recharge, you can't have more juice from the Xantrex System, but with a replaceable cartridge. when you are camping with your bicycle you wouldn't want to carry 27.3 kg around with you nor would you carry 10 replacement-batteries for a laptop.

- The Xantrex System costs list price $449, amazon price $249 - if you are in need of portable emergency power, perhaps useable indoors, this fuel cell is a possibility.

[Andrew Van Cleve @ Jan 8th 2008 5:54PM]

Millenium cell usually serves the military and emergency services. So these will probably be used to power military or disaster communications.
They indicate it has an very long term storage life. It's much lighter before you add water so you'd probably pack this in dry and add water when it was needed. The materials the unit is made of once it has been used appear to be easily recycled though there would no doubt be some idiots who would just chuck it. It no doubt lends itself to many other uses that the company will be very interested in. They probably will introduce other versions at a later date for specific purposes. The other side of this partnership is Horizon fuel cell in Shanghai. Many of their prooducts fuel model sized vehicles and aircraft.